The Numbers On Australia's Dominance (And Other Thoughts)

You have to feel for India, you really do. Like I said in a recent post, the only bright side to such lopsidedly incompetent umpiring is the chance that something will be done about it. Here's hoping that a referral system is introduced in our sport, lest it becomes even more of a farce than it already has.

Be that as it may, the umpiring only casts doubt on the sixteenth of sixteen wins in a row. Pretty much everything else was won fair and square. I got on to Cricinfo's statsguru to see exactly how dominant Australia have been lately. The numbers were even more astounding than I thought they would be. Consider that since October 14, 1999 Australia (a) have won 74 out of 95 tests, with 11 draws and 10 losses, and (b) have won 26 out of 30 completed series, with a full seventeen of those series wins whitewashes. Please look at those numbers again. Don't they sort of, you know, make you want to puke?

Anyway, there's another reason I'm happy Australia acted like such cunts in this game (the two Ponting incidents, the two Clarke incidents, the Gilchrist appeal, among many others). We finally have a real villain in the game. Too many people, for too long, respected Australia too much. Despite being the best, Australia strangely caught very little of the revulsion that juggernauts normally elicit (think of the number of people who hate Man United for instance). People were content with saying nice things about them, getting their asses kicked, and moving on to the next series. Now, everything changes. Their reputation will suffer immeasurably from this. No matter what psycho-nationalist-types might say, the Aussies bear a large portion of the responsibility for the substandard umpiring - the psychological pressure they exert on umpires, home or away, is truly a sight to behold (in a disgusting, pornographic type of way). And it's not just the umpiring. It's the holier-than-thou reaction of Ponting after the game, when an Indian reporter had the temerity to question his integrity. It's the smugness of Symonds after getting a reprieve that effectively cost India the game. And it's their ratting out of Harbajhan for saying whatever the hell it is he said - do you really believe they don't say worse on a regular basis?

Good for Kumble saying what he did. I never thought the day would come when I would actively and wholeheartedly support India at cricket. Thanks to those lovable Aussies, that day is here.